


Days Long Gone

by SisterWine



Category: The Magnificent Seven (TV)
Genre: Gen, Old West, Reminiscing, fandom challenge, sweet memories
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-03
Updated: 2016-01-03
Packaged: 2018-05-11 09:29:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,891
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5622169
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SisterWine/pseuds/SisterWine
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>An answer to my own challenge of one of the seven reminiscing.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Days Long Gone

Disclaimer: The characters of the Magnificent Seven television series (1998) belong to The Mirish Corporation and Walter Mirish. I make no claim to either the series or the characters. No profit has been made. Strictly for entertainment purposes only. This is a work of fiction. Madeline Tanner is of my own mind and creation. 

 

1929

Sighing and sitting down in his leather easy chair, Vin unfolded the morning paper and grabbed the handle of his coffee cup. Raising it to his lips and pausing to read the headline, he shook his head in dismay at what the advancement of civilisation had come to. Things had been so much easier in the old days. Life was still hard yet livable and communities had been smaller but more humble. But, that was prior to the turn of the 20th Century. Inventions had come and gone and made life easier and harder and noisier than ever. He missed the days of horse-drawn wagons, bright, starry skies and quiet town streets. He stared at the headline for a long while and carefully thought of pronouncing each syllable as Mary had taught him. 

It had been a long while for him to become well-versed in reading a full sentence without pausing or stumbling. His ability to read a word, a long word, had improved tremendously since he had promised Mary he would work on his reading and writing, when he settled in to his new home. He had edged out an hour, each day, to practise his letters and words and eventually purchased a typing machine. A smile came to his face as he recalled a letter he had personally written to her, expressing his thanks and joy as he had also enclosed a signed copy of his newly published collection of poems. She had responded in kind, noting her enjoyment of his works and that she was looking forward to his next project.

He sipped at his coffee and placed the cup on the small, round table, beside him. Carefully, he read the words of the article and then found himself staring out the window, to the city street. He smiled as his thoughts rested on Ezra Standish. The southern-born confidence man had always the smart scheme to collect the elusive money that seemed to fund his exspensive tastes. "Always the entrepraneurer, Ezra," he whispered. He wondered how Ezra had taken the news of the morning; like the rest of the country? Had chaos reigned down on Ezra? Or, had the gambler managed to outsmart the collapse and retain his wealth while everyone lost theirs?

The next page held astonishing feats in the advancements of Penicillin and, again, his mind wandered over his long-time friends. A smile came to his lips as Nathan Jackson came to mind. In parting ways, Nathan had told him of the small reservation of Cochise, in the new state of Arizona. Vin wondered if Josiah had accompanied his constant companion, or had stayed in the small town and filled his empty church with a congregation worthy of praise.

The index finger of his free hand rose to rub at his chin. It had been earlier that year that the headline read of the passing of the once-great lawman of Tombstone. He thought of his first confidant, Chris Larabee. Since they had learnt of Ella's involvement in the demise of Sarah and Adam, had Chris pursued her when the town no longer needed their services? Or, had karma caught up with the devious woman, first? Vin had spent years slowly watching his friend lose a piece of himself, along with the memory of his departed wife and child. It had been a pain he had not wanted to remember about his own life and the loss of his mother, at such a young age. Larabee had always managed to land on his feet as well as keeping the rest of the group together yet, Vin couldn't help but feel the tug of doubt, weighing on his mind. For years, "the man in black" had lived up to his reputation but once the menace had been uncovered, Chris had become colder. He had aged, before them and it was Buck who had acknowledged that "the black now wore Chris Larabee." The fire and hatred had all but consumed Chris and yet, they had all remained loyal, even when the bitterness took hold.

It hadn't been 10 years before little Billy Travis had grown up and, with the help of the retired Judge Travis, had taken a place at law school and went on to become as gifted as his grandfather. He had written letter after letter to his mother, whose growing newspaper business had proven to be a very lucrative industry. In each letter, he had questioned her about what his father would have thought of him being all grown up and carrying on his grandfather's legacy. She would reply with reassurance that Stephen would be proud of their son chasing his dream. 

In Mary's last correspondence to Vin, she had shared with him a sorrowful thought of Chris possibly losing his mind as the betrayal of Ella Gaines had plagued him. She had met him in passing as the news of Butterfield's last stage stopped in town. Chris had retreated to his small cabin, to build additions to, and offered her an invitation away from the town. She had pondered and wrung her hands at the chance she had hoped for for so long. She confided in Vin that she had yearned for the offer to come, for years, yet she questioned the timing of late. He had returned with a simple reply, "nothing gained in a chance not taken."

He sighed again and shook his head, running a hand absently through his short hair. It had greyed long ago and, with the invention of shampoo, softened to a finer feeling than that of coarse wire, his curly brown locks had been subjected to.

Another page held more information of the ferry that had overturned in Lake Michigan and he found himself immediately flipping back to the front page to find the smaller headline of the story. JD had always talked about he and Casey adventuring and eventually heading back East to settle down, in his old home state. His last communication with the youngest of the seven spoke of their son and daughter-in-law settling down in Michigan. Vin fought the itch to take pen and paper in hand and write his young friend.

"Your coffee is cold, dear. Shall I warm it for you?" A voice from beside him snapped him back to the present. Madeline Tanner, his wife and love of 35 years now stood beside him and smiled down at him. Her voice had been soft as not to alarm him but could still hold his attention at first breath. She had been younger than Vin but held the intelligence of a woman, even beyond his years. A dutiful wife that cherished her husband and his company, and he hers.

Vin's thoughts obscured by the sudden noise and he looked up to find her smiling cleverly at him. "Hm? Yes, ma'am." He smiled back and then retreated back into his thoughts of his old companions. His brow furrowed as he found himself once again staring at the words on the front page.

Buck Wilmington had ever been the ladies man and made no attempt to hide the fact. It had taken a long while for Buck to get over the loss of latest love, a divorcee that had opened the tailoring shoppe, not far from Mary's newspaper. She had captured his attentions fully but hid her illness well from him. It had been too late, by the time the realisation came of Consumption. Ever the gentle smile had been present on Buck's handsome face. Yet, the smile faded into oblivion as they laid her to rest, less than two months later.

When last Vin had heard, Buck had been diagnosed with cirrhosis. "Buck'll fight it to the death." He had said it outloud to the room.

"The crash?" Madeline set his newly refreshed cup down on the table, beside him and peered over his shoulder, confused at what he had said.

Once again, Vin was caught off guard at the second voice in the room. The tall ceiling echoed their syllables and the fireplace crackled with warmth of the fire. "Hm? Oh. I was thinkin' of an old friend of mine. Someone I used to ride with, before we met, dear." Looking up and moving the paper from in front of him, he took her in his arms as she gingerly sat down on his lap. "How fast the years go by."

Madeline kissed his forehead. "The town has been gone for years. What brought you to think of it, now?" Madeline had heard the stories of the seven and their adventures and had been present on the day the President, himself, pardoned Vincent Tanner, clearing him of the charges brought onto him for the misdeeds of Ely Joe. However, in return, he was conditioned to never use his firearm in the state of Texas, again. She had been so proud of him. 

Vin shook his head and wrapped his arms about her waist. "The days of youth. Emily used to enjoy my stories. Tales of the old and rugged west of yesteryear." He smiled at the memories of his daughter, perched on his knee, listening with bright, wide eyes at his tales of chases and gunfights and good versus evil.

Sighing, Madeline snuggled into his chest and rest her head on his shoulder. "Emily is a grown woman with her own imagination of the Old West. You have sparked her inner muse many a time and now, she is her own inventor of literature. Which means, it's time for you to rest while I prepare dinner." Kissing his lips and moving to stand up, she hurried off to prepare the midday meal and left him to his thoughts and coffee.

Vin laughed to himself as he could hear the sounds of horses clippity-clopping up and down the dirt street, voices of patrons drinking in the saloon and the yipping and hollaring of cardsharps showing their best hands over their competitors, at the gaming tables. Ezra had been in his element and proudly displayed his expertise to the crowd that had gathered around. Buck and Chris perched at the corner of the bar, drinking their beers and laughing in conversation and Josiah and Nathan sat at a far table, congratulating Casey and JD on their nuptuals. And, Vin. Carefully, he had spent the long hours of many months hard at work to read and write and testing himself with his new-found abilities on a dime novel of the seven, written by the very same young, greenhorn that had followed them to and from Purgatorio.

He closed his eyes for a moment and pictured himself back in the small, fledgling town and wished for the times to come again. The smell of the leather coat on his back and the heavy weight of the firearm strapped to his right thigh as he sat tall in the saddle of Peso and charged out into the unknown, following Chris Larabee, along side the other five men and ready for battle.

 

End.


End file.
